27/2/2015 The Failure of Multiculturalism

March/April2015
COMMENT

TheFailureofMulticulturalism
CommunityVersusSocietyinEurope

KenanMalik

KENANMALIKisamonthlycolumnistforTheInternationalNewYorkTimesandtheauthor,mostrecently,ofThe
QuestforaMoralCompass:AGlobalHistoryofEthics[1].FollowhimonTwitter@kenanmalik[2].

Thirtyyearsago,manyEuropeanssawmulticulturalismtheembraceofaninclusive,diversesocietyasananswer
toEuropessocialproblems.Today,agrowingnumberconsiderittobeacauseofthem.Thatperceptionhasled
somemainstreampoliticians,includingBritishPrimeMinisterDavidCameronandGermanChancellorAngela
Merkel,topubliclydenouncemulticulturalismandspeakoutagainstitsdangers.Ithasfueledthesuccessoffarright
partiesandpopulistpoliticiansacrossEurope,fromthePartyforFreedomintheNetherlandstotheNationalFrontin
France.Andinthemostextremecases,ithasinspiredobsceneactsofviolence,suchasAndersBehringBreiviks
homicidalrampageontheNorwegianislandofUtoyainJuly2011.

Howdidthistransformationcomeabout?Accordingtomulticulturalismscritics,Europehasallowedexcessive
immigrationwithoutdemandingenoughintegrationamismatchthathaserodedsocialcohesion,undermined
nationalidentities,anddegradedpublictrust.Multiculturalismsproponents,ontheotherhand,counterthatthe
problemisnottoomuchdiversitybuttoomuchracism.

Butthetruthaboutmulticulturalismisfarmorecomplexthaneithersidewillallow,andthedebateaboutithasoften
devolvedintosophistry.Multiculturalismhasbecomeaproxyforothersocialandpoliticalissues:immigration,
identity,politicaldisenchantment,workingclassdecline.Differentcountries,moreover,havefolloweddistinctpaths.
TheUnitedKingdomhassoughttogivevariousethniccommunitiesanequalstakeinthepoliticalsystem.Germany
hasencouragedimmigrantstopursueseparatelivesinlieuofgrantingthemcitizenship.AndFrancehasrejected
multiculturalpoliciesinfavorofassimilationistones.Thespecificoutcomeshavealsovaried:intheUnited
Kingdom,therehasbeencommunalviolenceinGermany,Turkishcommunitieshavedriftedfurtherfrom
mainstreamsocietyandinFrance,therelationshipbetweentheauthoritiesandNorthAfricancommunitieshas
becomehighlycharged.Buteverywhere,theoverarchingconsequenceshavebeenthesame:fragmentedsocieties,
alienatedminorities,andresentfulcitizenries.

Thisisapreviewofapremiumarticle.Youmustsubscribe[3]toaccessthefulltext.Ifyouarealreadya
subscriber,pleaseloginhere[4].

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/print/140280 1/2
27/2/2015 The Failure of Multiculturalism

Copyright20022014bytheCouncilonForeignRelations,Inc.
Allrightsreserved.Torequestpermissiontodistributeorreprintthisarticle,pleasefilloutandsubmitaPermissions
RequestForm.Ifyouplantousethisarticleinacoursepackoracademicwebsite,visitCopyrightClearanceCentertoclear
permission.

ReturntoArticle:http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/143048/kenanmalik/thefailureofmulticulturalism
Home>Comment>TheFailureofMulticulturalism
PublishedonForeignAffairs(http://www.foreignaffairs.com)

Links:
[1]http://www.amazon.com/QuestMoralCompassGlobalHistory/dp/1612194036/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1?
s=books&ampie=UTF8&ampqid=1423701009&ampsr=11&ampkeywords=TheQuestforaMoralCompass:AGlobal
HistoryofEthics
[2]https://twitter.com/kenanmalik
[3]http://www.foreignaffairs.com/subscribe?ban=APRNT
[4]http://www.foreignaffairs.com/user

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/print/140280 2/2